AMMAN — As famine emerges in Gaza and humanitarian aid struggles to break through restrictive barriers, Jordan continues to play a leading role in supporting Palestinians and easing the crisis in the besieged Gaza.

 

Over the past week, the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation (JHCO), in cooperation with international relief partners and the Jordan Armed Forces – Arab Army (JAF), has dispatched four land convoys to Gaza carrying critical food supplies, particularly flour.

 

The latest convoy, consisting of 36 trucks, entered northern Gaza on Tuesday through the Zikim crossing as part of a joint effort with World Central Kitchen (WCK). It marked the first successful aid delivery via this northern route in weeks and was designed to reach communities facing extreme hunger and displacement.

 

According to JHCO, the total number of trucks sent through the four convoys reached 147, including 111 trucks coordinated with the World Food Programme (WFP) and 36 trucks with WCK. The convoys were made possible after receiving logistical guarantees that allowed the aid to be both delivered and distributed effectively on the ground.

 

The Jordanian organisation said in a statement that international relief efforts have repeatedly encountered obstacles, including gunfire directed at aid seekers and attacks on convoys by rogue groups aiming to disrupt distribution or loot supplies. The sector continues to suffer from insecurity and chaos, threatening the safe passage of humanitarian shipments.

 

This latest initiative comes as more than 100 international aid organisations, including Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Save the Children, and Oxfam, warned this week of “mass starvation” spreading across Gaza, where over two million Palestinians face severe shortages of food, water and medicine after 21 months of conflict. According to the UN, over 1,000 Palestinians have been killed while attempting to access food since late May.

 

Amid this backdrop, Jordanian officials have continued to advocate for an urgent international response. During his visit to Brussels to attend the fifth EU-Southern Neighbourhood ministerial meeting, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ayman Safadi stressed that “ending the aggression [on Gaza] is the top priority,” and reaffirmed Jordan’s readiness to significantly scale up its humanitarian support.

 

“If Israel lifts the restrictions on the entry of assistance, Jordan is ready to send hundreds of trucks every day to Gaza,” Safadi said, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

 

He also reiterated that “the Euro-Mediterranean neighbourhood we seek is one of security and peace,” but emphasised that such a vision “cannot be achieved without resolving the Palestinian issue based on the Palestinian people’s right to an independent and sovereign state on their national soil.”

 

Highlighting the unified Arab stance at the Brussels meeting, Safadi said: “Arab countries participating in the meeting will deliver a clear message: ending the aggression is the top priority, international law must be upheld and applied equally to all, and no state should be above the law.”

 

“If we want our region to truly be a model of security, stability, peace, and development,” Safadi added, “it must also be a model in the application of international law.”

 

Speaking to Al Mamlaka TV on Monday, Secretary-General of the JHCO Hussein Shibli described the humanitarian conditions in Gaza as “unprecedented” since October 7, 2023. He accused Israeli authorities of imposing a “total blockade” on the territory, resulting in what he termed a “systematic starvation and dehydration” of the population.

 

“There is a clear and deliberate attempt to starve and dehydrate Gaza’s residents,” Shibli said. “This has resulted in widespread despair and a slow, collective death due to hunger.”

 

He described the situation as “extremely dire” and emphasised that Jordan is making efforts on all fronts, diplomatic and humanitarian, to respond to the crisis. He added that Jordan is working both through direct relief programmes and in coordination with international organisations operating across the border.

 

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also sounded the alarm, describing the situation as catastrophic: “The horror facing Palestinians in Gaza under Israeli military attack was unprecedented in recent years,” he said on Tuesday, urging for urgent humanitarian access and the protection of civilians.

 

As international calls grow louder for an end to the conflict and the implementation of a meaningful humanitarian corridor, Jordan’s proactive approach underscores its longstanding commitment to the Palestinian cause and its humanitarian leadership in the region.